


Hurt Me Gently

by SmexyWatermelon



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: A/B/O, Abusive Relationships, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Masturbation, Omegaverse, Sex Toys, fluff??, light ptsd, not a slow burn but from the chapters amount I'm def gonna blueball some people, reader is a beta
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-24
Updated: 2019-09-23
Packaged: 2019-10-15 14:24:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17530391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmexyWatermelon/pseuds/SmexyWatermelon
Summary: The first day of your new life had just begun! Or at least so the claptrap that had given you the news of your promotion had put it. Truth is, you had been working hard and studying wearily to survive your daily life as a Hyperion employee, and even though many considered that job a death sentence in itself, you weren't afraid of it at all.Curse growing up in the middle of a civil war for your lack of flight or flee response, as Rhys had put it. But you were indeed eager to start with your new secretary placement: responsibilities and stepping up to new challenges had always been your forte, and the increased pay grade and influence were a great incentive.You kept walking down the long corridor, peeking at what would have probably been your future desk, just outside the massive doors of the CEO office. You took in a deep breath and placed your palm over the handle, pushing the door open.-------------(In which Reader becomes Jack's PA and has to juggle between power-hungry Alphas and the marvellous nuisance that is Rhys.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Psst this is my first omegaverse fic and I just tried to subtly go for it since this isn't supposed to be a #PornWithPlot just yet. The only difference is that Betas aren't considered ‘normies' but are more anybody who falls in-between the spectrum of Alpha/Omega without fitting in the extremes. Hope you guys enjoy ^^ and sorry for the long-ass chapter, it kinda got out of hand real fast.)

The first thing that struck you was how massive this place actually was: Jack was one of the wealthiest men alive in this quadrant and damn, it showed.

The very close second one was the angry voice of the CEO echoing against the walls. And wasn't the man he was yelling at the head of the engineering department?

"It's just a matter of time, we're so close, sir!" "Just like you were last week? And the week before that?!" "There have been several improvements-" Jack pressed his index finger on the man's lips. "Shshshsh-"  
"Now Billie, you promised something that you didn't deliver. I'll be honest with you-" He bit his lower lips and shook his head. "I'm quite disappointed." You saw the grip on the engineer's shoulder becoming uncomfortably tight. "And you know just how much I hate when people disappoint me." He shoved the man on the ground and pulled a Hyperion issued pistol out of his chest holster.

That's the moment your brain thought was perfect to give a couple of dramatic coughs. "G-good morning-"  
"Morning!" He said with a smile, focusing again on the little man in front of him. He furrowed his eyebrows and glanced at you sideways. "Who are you again, sugar?"

"I'm (y/n) (y/s), your personal assistant, sir."

He slightly nodded, as if remembering about something he had completely forgotten about. "Oh, right, the new secretary. Just one second, kitten-" He took off the safety and you instinctively hid behind the door, seeing a flash illuminating the floor before blood and _oh God are those brains_ splattered across it.

The sharp smell of ozone filled the air. There was a moment of silence before Jack burst into a long and hearty laugh. "Did you see his stupid face exploding?! Pfshhttt- Hahahaahaha! Pumpkin?"

"Where did you go, pumpkin?" He drawled the words in a very pleased tone, like he was speaking to a small child.

You cleared your throat and stepped outside of the makeshift cover, having care in not stepping over the fresh blood at your feet. "I didn't want to get any brains on my new tailleur, sir." You replied, as unphased and dead inside as you had been for the last five years working on Helios.

You closed the distance between the two of you, looking over the corpse of the ex-head of engineering. "I'll have somebody from janitorial come clean up." You said as you opened your Echo to send a quick message, following your boss over at his desk.

His scent prickled your nose through the pungent smell of blood: it was woodsy, like a burning campfire, with a saltier note that reminded you of the fresh breeze coming from the ocean. You had never been this close to him before. Anybody could see Jack during the annual ceremonial speech, but up to now you had barely been able to be in the same room with him.

"Is there anything else you would like me to-" "Nu-uh, sweet cheeks; here is how it works: first of all, I need coffee. If I don't have a cup of it, you move that pretty ass of yours and go get me a new one. Then, and only after that, you may talk- only to answer my questions. Is that simple enough, pumpkin?"

"Yes, si-" "Ah-ah-ah-" he stopped, shushing you with a raised finger and waiting for you to realize your mistake.  
"Coffee first." You stated with a tight-lipped smile, heading towards the small table where the coffee machine was placed. "That's my girl."

As you started up the machine, you heard his voice calling for you. "Where are you from, rookie?" He had no idea what was written in your curriculum. It figures.  
"Hestias, sir." You said as you carefully poured steaming coffee in a new mug.

"Haha, what kind of small ass planet is that? I thought you were from the robotic department or something."  
"It's just a few clusters away. It has a lot of oceans and… well, that's pretty much it." You handed him the mug, his fingers deliberately brushing against yours. You hadn't decided yet whether he was testing you or he was simply being a big flirt, but you were pretty uncomfortable with where all of this was going.

"And you came all this way to work for me? I might even be flattered." He took a big sip from the mug and sighed, his face conveying that weird ‘now it feels like morning' feeling that only coffee-addicted people can truly understand and appreciate. "So what did bring you here?"

"Mostly the good paycheck and the beautiful view." You said as you looked over Elpis. For a second, you could swear Jack seemed to take you mentioning the moon (and not him) as an insult.

He looked you over, slowly circling around you. "Well well, HR seems to be finally doing a good job at selecting my assistants." He was so close, it would have been impossible for him not to take a whiff of your scent. He suddenly grew colder, distancing himself and sitting on the edge of the desk.

He took a contract from the table and began reading it, shooing you away with his hand. "Go handle the calls. You'll know if I need anything."

\----

Fourteen long hours later, you closed the door behind you as you entered your apartment. "I'm back!" You saw Rhys' head pocking out of the kitchen door. "(y/n)? Is that you? It's so late, I was starting to worry."  
"Why worry, sugar? Now that I've sold my soul to Hyperion I'll be lucky to come home by midnight, if that." You explained, taking your jacket off and hanging it in the small wall wardrobe next to the entrance.

"Don't say that so snarkily, it's not like you told me that!" He made room for you to pass when you walked into the kitchen, eating spoonfuls of ice cream while he talked with you. "Sooo… tell me all about your first day?" He said, sitting at the table with a cheesy smile covering his face. "It went quite smoothly. Jack only shoot one person to bits today." You casually mumbled as you skimmed inside the fridge for something eatable. "I suppose that could be good…" He replied, narrowing his eyes with an uncertain smile on his face.

"Oh! I left some lasagne for you." He gestured towards the oven, where you could see a half full casserole being kept warm.  
"You're a life saver!" you exclaimed as you wore the oven gloves and took it out of the oven, quickly cutting a generous portion and putting it inside a dish. "I'm starving-" Rhys' cooking skills were questionable at best, but at that moment the piece of lasagne was the most delicious thing that had ever made contact with your tongue.  
"Skipped lunch," you mumbled with your mouth full "had to follow Jack in the weaponry subdivision." You mumbled between bites as you unceremoniously stuffed your mouth. "I could swear that man is fuelled exclusively by coffee and pretzels-"

Rhys continued nodding at your story for a while, giving ‘uh-hu's of approval and surprised ‘oh's and ‘ah's anytime something mildly interesting happened. At some point he gave you a spoon and you started sharing the ice cream and passing the box back and forth.  
"Did you know they're working on a freezing weapon that-" Rhys groaned in what people that knew him less well than you would describe as ‘pain'. "C'mon, give me something juicy!! Did he flirt with you at all?"

There was an awkward pause on your end, before you mumbled: "I think he was about to, then realized what I was."  
"Oh. I'm so sorry." He said in a genuinely sorrowful tone. He almost looked like a beaten up puppy.  
"Why sorry? This is so much more convenient-" you took another spoonful of ice cream and brought it to your mouth. "Look, we both know I'm not the greatest at relationships. If _that_ were to happen then I'd be vented in a day's time."

"Probably less…" he mumbled, upset about the lack of gossip. "What?" "Nothing!" He exclaimed nonchalantly as he reclaimed the ice cream box.

"Look, I like being around people, it's just that right now I don't like… well, anybody."  
It had been a bit less than a year since you had broken up with your long time boyfriend. You really thought that it would work with another Beta at the time. Clearly, you were wrong.

"You know, I have a couple of Omega friends you might wanna meet…" "No, no…" you had already seen what being around Betas did to Omegas. How it could easily ruin their lives.  
It had already happened to your father, you weren't going to be responsible for ruining someone else's life.  
On the other hand, Alphas were almost impossible to handle for you. It was just weeks and weeks _and weeks_ of butting heads and sex marathons, which weren't bad at all in themselves, but turned out to be quite difficult to handle over a longer period of time.  
"You really look like you need a night out, y'know?" he cheekily remarked. "Don't even try it, Rhysie…" you said with a smirk, stealing another spoonful of ice-cream. "Suit yourself." He said with a shrug, but he seemed pretty hurt deep down.

You stood up from your spot and closed the distance between the two of you, encasing the Omega in a tight hug. "I really appreciate what you're trying to do. Thank you."  
"Yeah, yeah…" he waved you off as you let go of him.  
"Just go do your things and give me a holler when you need a consultant for your love life." You tucked the dishes in the dishwasher and wished him good night. As you walked down the corridor, you heard him yell "And make sure you pick me when that time comes because I will quite literally murder for that spot."

\----

You were abruptly ripped away from your dreams when your Echo started beeping insistently.  
"Mmhyeas?" you replied, in what was remarkably not your best charming sentence, if you could even call it that. "At my office, asap, cupcake. I need you here _now._ "

The comm shut close, and as your brain was imploring you to lay down and sleep again, you realized _the_ Handsome Jack had just called you.  
You begrudgingly rolled out of bed, forcing yourself to leave the comfort of your warm sheets.  
It was 3 and a half in the morning.

In an almost mechanical way, you washed, dressed up, bound your hair in a tight bun and applied makeup in a matter of minutes. You took your heels and grabbed your keys, power walking towards the door. A hazy and sleepy Rhys dragged himself next to you. "(y/n), what's going on?"

"Go back to sleep, sugar." You said, patting his cheek as you walked by and exited the apartment.  
You put your heels on as you walked and managed to squeeze inside an elevator just before the doors closed.

You almost ran into well more than a couple of your colleagues before reaching the entrance to Jack's office. You stopped to wheeze at the top of the stairs, resting your hands on your knees. You forced yourself to push forward, almost thankful you hadn't had any sort of breakfast before sprinting halfway through Helios.

Jack was already at the doors of his office, his contempt only matched by his charm. "You're late, cupcake. When I say now, I need you to leave whatever you're doing and come here yesterday!"  
"My apologies, boss." You said keeping your best straight face, restraining your wheezing and fighting the urge to sleepily rub the corners of your eyes.

"What is the emergency?"  
"I had to move a meeting."  
"Tooo…" you trailed off in a questioning tone. He raised his eyebrows and almost waited for you to make your point, which of course never happened. "Now." He replied harshly, and you nodded while pressing your lips in a thin line.  
He was wearing a Hyperion-yellow button-up shirt and a long black tie under a hexagon-patterned carbon jacket, though he was still wearing his unformal jeans.

He gestured for you to follow him and you hurried to get a clipboard and pen from your desk before catching up with him.  
"Important clients, I assume?"  
"Worse."  
_Oh._ You mentally remarked. _Competitors, then._ You scribbled date, hour and place of meeting, tidily setting up the sheets to take more notes as needed.

He stopped a few meters before the entrance, turning towards you. "Now, rule number one: you don't do anything, you don't say anything if that shows weakness. You follow me and be a good little doll, taking notes and organizing stuff. Rule number two: you don't need it, because the first rule is the only damn thing you need to remember. Understood, cupcake?"  
"Yes, sir."  
"Good." He gave you a sideways look as he pressed his palms against the two doors, shoving them open. The place was completely packed with men in suits, all of which stopped chattering to focus on Jack.

The stench of Alphas was clinging heavily in the air. That's when you realized that there was no Omega in their ranks. You could imagine why people would send their most power hungry and ambitious members, yet it made the job of the people that had to deal with them - namely, you - much harder.

You kept taking notes about the people surrounding you and the deals you could hear were being made, always following Jack close by.

"Mmh, a Beta this time? Jack is a lucky man…" You overheard the man with particularly slicked black hair say while he approached you, and you put your usual dead-inside smile on before listening to him. "And so you are the new secretary, from what I understand."  
"Yes, sir. Is there anything I can do to help you?"  
"There are many things you can help me with, darling." He stared at you from head to toe, and you mentally rolled your eyes. "For now I just want you to schedule an appointment with your chief."  
There were official channels to do that, but if Shabby McRich wanted to do it this way, you could certainly arrange that.

You smiled kindly, taking a note in the corner of the page. He didn't seem as detached as all the other representative were in the room, and now that you thought about it, you had seen this man on some magazine cover before. You looked over his chest just to find a pin with the name of the industries he was working for. "Of course, Mr.Dahl."  
"Ahah, a fan of mine, I suppose?" A bit pretentious for someone who literally wore a pin with his name on it. On second thought, it was completely normal for a guy like him to have such an inflated ego.  
"Your fame precedes you." _I suppose._  
He took your hand to kiss the back of it, and you had to suppress your impulse to backhand him straight across his smug face.

What an asshole.

You exhaled deeply. "Let go of me." Your tone was more on the boring side rather than angry; nonetheless, his fingers kept clinging to your wrist. "C'mon, we're just having fun-" You hand quickly clenched in a fist, and you tried to yank your arm away, sadly to no avail. "Get your hands off me." You said coldly.

"What's going on here?" Dahl stared dumbfounded at Jack, and you took the chance to slip your wrist out of his grip.  
A smug grin was once more plastered over Dahl's face. "Just making friendly conversation. Getting to know each other." "If I had to choose between a skag and you, trust me, you would walk home alone." You hissed through gritted teeth, but just loud enough for Dahl and Jack to hear it.

Jack scoffed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Enough!" "But-" "I said, enough." Jack wasn't yelling at you. That's probably what made him so scary.  
"Yes boss." You couldn't help but look down. Dammit, none of your bosses had ever managed to make you feel like this.

You took in a deep breath, trying to filter out of your mind the heavy mix of Alpha scents, and put on your fake smile again. "Thank you for your opinion, Mr. Dahl, I will see that an appointment is arranged soon."  
"Marvellous." He chuckled, giving your ass a good squeeze before walking away.

"What the hell was that?" You angrily scribbled his name down alongside your other notes, almost tearing the paper sheet with how hard you were pressing the pen into it. "Infringement of corporation policies, for one." "Speak up, cupcake. I can't hear you with that pity dick in your mouth." You swallowed your pride, maintaining your composure. "I'm sorry, sir. It won't happen again." "You betcha."

Jack kept trailing off from representative to representative, with you following him close by. If they wanted you to show some guts, fine, but you would have done it your own way.  
As long as the new secretary was giving them the dove eyes, nobody checked on their communication devices. The few courses you had taken in Ethical Hacking at university were surely paying off every single dime of their fees.

By the end of the greetings, you had accumulated quite some info – and a little bit of mud – on each of Hyperion's main competitors.  
You followed Jack in the next room, seeing a seat just near the wall apparently reserved for you.  
"Now, I need you to stay here and look pretty while the grown-ups talk. Think you can handle that?" You just stared down in silence, but before Jack could completely turn around and go take the seat at the head of the table, you whispered: "The representative from Jakobs tried to suggest a deal to the Maliwan guy." Jack turned halfway towards you again, cocking an eyebrow. "They seem desperate for an aperture and seem to be in need of some working schematics very soon."

He leant closer to you, whispering "And how do you know this?"  
"… I might have hacked his phone… just a little…" You almost covered your lips with your index while saying that, but seeing Jack's smile only growing wider, you smirked yourself.  
"Found anything else?"  
"Plenty of little corp secrets, but most importantly - Dahl will take that offer if we don't take it." You were hoping with all yourself that Jack could read from your gaze how much you would have enjoyed Hyperion taking that deal in place of that jerk. Jack smirked at you, straightening up and caressing his chin "I think I'm starting to like you, sweet cheeks."  
You returned the gaze and gave him a soft smile. "Sir."

For the rest of the meeting, you simply took notes and tried to notice any weird tell the representatives might have- although, not knowing your crowd yet, deciphering whether an ear was really itching or something was really on their mind while their eyes darted around the room was difficult to evaluate.  
It was 8:25 when the meeting finished. You stretched your limbs as you slowly walked next to your boss. "What's up next?"  
"You have a meeting with the weaponry department supervisors." He stretched his arms backwards and you could hear his back bones faintly popping. "Right. I'll go handle that, you handle the paperwork upstairs." "Sounds like a plan."

As everybody was leaving, you made a move to get out, and almost collided against Dahl. "You stuck up Beta bitch don't even know how to walk?!"  
You could have made another scene if you really wanted to, confident now that Jack was in a good mood. But since Dahl had already had such a tough day with his competitors, you simply smiled back at him. "I seem to have other matters to attend. Gentlemen…" You said, excusing yourself out of the room.

\----

The rest of the morning had gone by without much of an issue.  
You rested your elbows on the desk and intertwined your hands, resting your chin over them. You sighed and closed your eyelids, feeling them almost gluing together because of the lack of sleep.

Your second day had barely started and yet company drama was already leading the scene.  
To summarize, it was everything you had expected from this job. And the fact you weren't floating around the orbit of Helios alongside what you were sure was a surprising number of your co-workers could only mean that Jack was satisfied with you as well.  
Speaking of the devil, he had just sent you a message saying he would have been back from the other meetings he had scheduled for the day shortly.

You were much more relaxed now that you had redeemed yourself in his eyes. You hadn't got unrealistic expectations and unlike a lot of people here on Helios – Rhys included – you weren't crazy about Jack.  
Whether he liked to admit it or not, he was just a man. A man that had managed to claw his way to the top of the food chain without a doubt, but still just a man.

Footsteps approached your desk, and you opened your eyes just in time to see Jack moving towards you.

"Welcome back, sir." You said, straightening up.  
"You did a good job with the meeting, rookie."  
"I assume that means good news…" He remained silent, but gestured for you to follow him inside.

"I guess this is why HR hired you for this job." "Thank you." _I think_  
He took his jacket off and handed it to you as he walked. "There are clearly advantages to having a Beta handling the meetings."  
He grabbed a yellow sweater as he passed by the couch and threw it over his desk once he reached it. You lifted the papers that had fallen down as he had done so. When you stood up again to put the papers on top of the desktop again, you saw him loosening the knot of his tie. "W-what do you mean exactly… s-sir?"

He handed you the tie and you took it without thinking too much. "I've had Omegas as secretaries before-" he started unbuttoning his button-up shirt and _he isn't doing what you think he's doing in front of you. There's no way--_  
"Some of them would survive reunions, but most of them were practically eaten alive." You averted your gaze when you realized he was indeed stripping in front of you. "and the Betas were all hot-headed assholes too concerned with themselves to actually be helpful."

As much as you tried not to peek, your eye caught a glimpse of his slim waist and toned muscles. It's like his body didn't even know what fat was. In hindsight, he probably never stopped long enough to rest to really get any fatter.

"You did a great job today during your shift. I'm sure Henry will remember you now." He put on the sweater, passing a hand through his hair to put them back in place. You took his shirt from the spot where he had discarded it on his desk, folding it over your arm alongside the tie and jacket.

"I didn't realize I hired a hacker." He said with a cheeky smile.  
Realizing your boss was empty-handed, you headed towards the coffee machine. "It's just a couple of tricks, nothing too complicated-" You turned it on and waited for the coffee to be prepared before pouring a new cup with a single hand. "People don't expect the pretty-eyed girl to also be back-stabbing level cunning." You stated as you approached him again, offering him the mug.

"Now you just have to-" "Keep on the pressure over Jakobs and wait for their desperate offer; I'll update you as soon as that happens. I'll have these dry cleaned by tomorrow." Jack simply raised his eyebrows, speechless. You looked at your extended hand and back at him. "Your coffee, sir."

"What kind of secretary did you say you are exactly?" he said as he accepted the mug.  
"I'm a child of the trade." Jack furrowed his brows and you quickly explained "My mother was the CEO of a small company. I essentially learnt how to walk while balancing a dozen coffees in my hands."

"Before you go-" your heart jumped back to your throat; you spun around and almost felt relieved when all he did was place a stack of documents on top of the clothes in your hands. "Archive these and take the afternoon off." "O-okay, I'll-"

You felt his thumb and index grabbing your chin as he pressed a kiss to your temple. "You did very well today, cupcake."

You felt your cheeks bloom with colour. "Yes sir, thank you, sir." You said mechanically as you walked as fast as you could out of the room.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay this was meant to be longer but since it was getting out of hand (again) and life is burying me under surprising amounts of work rn I'll just leave this here for you guys. I feel like 2000 words chapters are easier to read anyways and the next part just needs editing so wish me luck P:

After some days of getting your body accustomed to the new routine, following Jack around with his crazy schedule was hardly a problem anymore.  
A fourteen hours long shift was no easy feat for anybody, but with a lot of resilience (and a bit of help from your omega flatmate) things had fallen into place with relative ease.

Although Helios never slept, at the wee hours of 7 a.m. everybody around the station was much quieter and briskly walking with purpose to go about their business.  
Silence dominated the corridors and hallways you had to traverse, interrupted only by the sound of the shuffling steps of your co-workers and the random metallic clunky thuds reverberating through the walls.  
You took the small elevator leading to the top of Helios and had to remind yourself not to bite your fingernails mid-way through nibbling one of your digits. You straightened your jacket and shirt before closing the distance between you and the broad double doors you had grown so accustomed to.

The smell of A/C filtered air welcomed you as you stepped inside Jack's office to check in before starting your working day.  
The lights were all shut off, and you could barely see his silhouette standing against the window at the opposite end of the office. That view truly brought Elpis to life, and admittedly you would have stared out of the window for longer if you had had the chance.  
Your heels made an empowering thudding noise that softly echoed off the walls as you walked across the room. Only when you were midway through it your boss finally took notice of your arrival. "What are you doing up here so late, cupcake?" He said, slightly tilting his head to the side.

It wasn't the first time you saw that look on his face: groggy and completely immersed in what he was doing, noticeably unfocused on everything else that was going on around him-  
"It's almost 7 in the morning, Jack." You calmly stated as you walked next to the coffee machine, sure your boss probably needed a refill.  
His only response was a distressed grunt, and you proceeded as if it was all normal (since, in a way, Jack pulling all-nighters had almost become a routine for the both of you).

You closed the distance between you and Jack's desk and, seeing that he was still busy looking at a number of papers, you took the chance to stare more attentively at Elpis, and the giant vibrant orange craters that adorned its surface. There were many windows overlooking the moon throughout the station, but the view from Jack's office was incredibly eerie and unique for some peculiar reason you couldn’t exactly pinpoint.  
You placed the steamy cup of coffee on his desk, just next to--

His mask.

You were almost afraid to look up, but when you did, Jack didn't seem to mind.  
It took your eyes some interminable seconds to adjust to his shadowed features; you had only heard tales of the huge scar that marred your boss' features. Most of his face was still intact, but his left eye was completely blank; you'd think blind as well, though his movements never seemed to suggest a disability. The deep vault-shaped wound was covered under a medical blue tape, though you noticed from the edges that it wasn't scarring very nicely.

Feeling the weight of your gaze, he grimaced without looking up "What is it, sweet cheeks? Don't you have work to do or something?"  
He must've been so tired he hadn't even realized it.  
"Sir, your face…" "Yeah, what about it?" He replied gruffly, and for a split second, you questioned whether completing that sentence was a good idea.  
"…it's on your desk." He touched his chin, dragging his fingers on the sides of his jaw and groggily reminiscing for a moment on how that came to be. Something akin to panic made his eyes widen, but he quickly recomposed himself. He didn’t need a physical mask to put on his façade.

"Rright-" He breathed out, and the manic glint in his eyes dulled back to his usual unimpressed self.  
His eyes trailed off to his side to meet yours; you would have just looked away, but you felt like this wasn't exactly the best option if he was truly self-conscious about his scar. You instead focused on his right blue eye, acting as normal as you could. You really didn't want to get chocked this early on in your career.  
You were interrupted before you could ask whether he needed help with anything- "Well, you're here now, at least I can put you to work." He stated, remarkably without meeting your gaze.

"Get that med kit." He said while pointing in the general direction of his desk, sitting back in his famed yellow chair.  
You found the small metallic box underneath a couple of thick stacks of paper sheets and contracts; the thing looked particularly pristine, as if nobody had ever seriously attempted to use it.

"What do you want me to do with it?" "Open it up-" You placed it just next to the discarded empty mugs and a very much full glass of whiskey, pulling the latches on the front open and lifting the lid upwards. You heard him peel off the old protective tape, discarding it in the trash bin just under his desk.

Seeing where this was going, you immediately took some drops of antiseptic and sterilized your hands. "Sir, I'd just like to remind you I'm not a trained nurse."  
"Are you sassing me, cupcake?"  
"I'd never dream of it." You replied, this time in a sassy tone indeed.  
He stared at you for a couple of seconds before deciding it wasn't worth it. "Just get on with it-" He rested his forehead in his hand, having care in not touching the wound. "What do you want me to do exactly?"

"Put the thing on the stuff and replace the thing with the other thing-" He half-assedly explained without looking at you. As helpful as one would expect from a sleep deprived Jack; well… luckily there weren't that many items inside the small box, and filling in the blanks was pretty easy after you inspected the tiny boxes and bottles of medication.  
You took the gel tube and poured some of it over a small cotton ball while Jack rested his head back and lowered his lids. Surprisingly, even though he was literally baring his throat at you, that gesture felt like anything but submissive. His fingertips were gently digging in the leather covering the armrests, and the butt of the shiny golden pistol that he had used to kill somebody on your very first day was casually poking out of his jacket.  
There was no questioning who still was in control.

You stepped next to Jack and gently dabbed the gel over what, as far as you could see, was still an open wound. "How long have you been postponing this?" You suddenly asked, at least to break that tense silence.  
He cracked one eye open, looking towards you. "Is it that obvious?" You silently sighed in defeat, knowing teaching self-care to this man was on par with running a thriving successful spa on Pandora.

Meaning, nigh impossible and quite self-destructive on everyone’s behalf.

"It doesn't take a medical degree to recognize an untreated wound."  
He closed his eye again, breathing out deeply. "I might have been skipping on a few days' worth of meds…" Quite the understatement, but not the worst one you had heard from him.

You turned around to fetch the new medical tape. You cut it about the right size and removed the film from the sticky side.  
When you gazed back at the wound, you almost visibly winced.  
"Does it hurt?" You thought he would have scolded you for such a stupid question, but he remained silent instead. He stared in the distance for a split second, then focused back on you. "…it's not as bad as it looks like." He sounded more like he was trying to convince you rather than telling you the truth.  
He relaxed back in his chair, letting you apply the new tape. "Y'know, we heroes? We tend to get into fights. Protect people and all that jazz… this is merely a badge of the trade." His scent turned acrid, and you knew some bad memories must have just resurfaced from wherever in the back of his mind he had attempted to bury them.

As much as you were still questioning whether he was worth empathizing for, you didn’t want him to feel bad, so you changed the topic. “It’s always been quite thrilling to hear about your adventures on Pandora, sir.”  
A pleased smile curved the corners of his mouth. “Mmmh? Which one do you have in mind?”  
“Where to start?” You turned towards the desk and grabbed some more cotton and disinfectant to clean the inside of the mask. “Opening the Vault of the Destroyer and repurposing the eye? The terraforming attempts, and what I think might be your favourite-“ you looked at him just over your shoulder, “Crushing Sanctuary’s bandits under your heel?”  
His eyes fixed on you as you turned back towards him. “Well well, somebody did her homework.”  
You smiled to yourself “It’s just mere observation, sir.” You lied, remembering all the nights you had spent on the extranet looking for more and more information, never getting quite enough of this anomalous hero.

Your hands moved to place the mask back on his face, but stopped to brush a stray lock of hair out of the way; without thinking, you brushed his hair back with your fingers. Your nerves stilled and you almost froze in place, realizing your mistake. You were about to retract your hand, but Jack grabbed it and placed it back where it was, your fingers sinking in the soft mess of locks.  
“You have incredibly soft hands for somebody coming from Hestias.” You were taken aback for a second, blinking as you were trying to understand what he was hinting at. “Yeah, I did my research too, cupcake. Why did you skip the part about the 20 years long ongoing civil war?”

You knew exactly the answer to that question, but he sure as hell wouldn’t have liked it. “I just didn’t want to waste your time with meaningless details, sir.”  
“Those details sound like a lot of fun.” At this point, you were pretty sure there was no sarcasm in that sentence.

“It’s just people killing each other over things that could be solved in a million other ways. Same as everywhere else.” Your fingers caressed his head again, and he let go of your wrist, knowing you would have stayed in place.  
“That does sound like a gross oversimplification.”  
“Does it really matter?”  
You delicately placed the mask over his face, feeling the magnets at the edges clipping together.  
“Aren’t we all living on borrowed time?”  
He smirked at your remark. “Not me, sugar.”

You made way for him to stand up again and he fetched the whiskey glass from his desk, taking a sip. Since there practically was no space left on his desk, you moved to tidy it up, starting with the medkit.

Jack casually stared out of the window. “Bring me the schedule for today, will ya?”  
You glanced towards him, seeing how slow and droopy he still looked. You silently sighed. "No."  
He stilled completely before his upper body turned so he could stare at you. "Come again, _cupcake_?" You didn't know anybody else who could turn that sugary word into a threat with so little effort.

This might get you yelled at, but somebody _had_ to tell him. "I saw you pulling all-nighters all week long, and in all frankness, we both know there is no need to rush this much. You have been looking sicker and more tired with each passing night-" You kept sorting and stacking up the contracts on his desk, then took the empty mugs and went to set them in their place- "With all due respect, you can’t keep on doing this for much longer. I don't have any wish to see you gone, and in all frankness, I like this job." You snatched a plastic bottle from the mini fridge and paced back in front of Jack.  
You swapped the whiskey glass with the water bottle, and Jack seemed too tired to even protest.  
"I'll reschedule your meetings for the day. You should go catch some sleep. _Sir._ " You tried adding at the end, but it really didn't make your sentence sound less bossy.  
Your body reflexively tensed when you felt his hand grabbing your chin.

Your eyes slightly widened and your breath itched in the back of your throat. This is it, this is where you had threaded the line too much-

He pressed a kiss to your cheek. “We’ll have it your way. _This time._ ” He huskily whispered before moving away from you and towards the exit. A warm blush climbed over your face.  
"See you later, doll face."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! So, I was really wrong in estimating how much time it would have taken me to get back to this, apologies for the delay ;_;  
> I just wanted to make sure that I knew more or less what I was doing, because writing an abusive relationship without glorifying it can be tricky, especially in fanfiction and even more so in the context of a/b/o.
> 
> So, to resume, abusive relationships=bad, might need more time to research how to write this properly, and enjoy the fic ^^

The relative calmness after Jack left lasted very little in the office. He was up and running much sooner than you would have ever expected, and after about 6 hours he had left for his apartment, he was already back at the office and looking surprisingly refreshed.  
It made you wonder what a decent sleep schedule could do to him.  
  
“Good job at keeping the fort, cupcake. I was half-expecting rebellious suppliers at my door by now.”  
You glanced at him briefly, continuing to type in documents at your workstation. “That’d have been entertaining. Sadly, I have work ethics, boss.”  
He leant forward with his palms on your desk, snooping at your holomonitor. “What’s up for today? C’mon, gimme something good.”  
Your brows slightly twitched in a frown. “I’ve moved all the appointments to tomorrow, sir.” _I had no idea you would be here again this soon._  
You subconsciously braced, but the frustratedly bored scolding that you were expecting never came.  
Actually, seeing Jack this calm after something mildly annoying happening to him kind of weirded you out.  
It wasn’t any day he let an opportunity to yell at someone slip like this. Nonetheless, you absolutely weren’t going to question his lunacy, especially if it worked in your favour.  
He tapped his fingers on your desk, lost in thought. You kept looking at him in the corner of your eye, and directly looked up only when his mismatched eyes widened with an evil glint.  
“Mmh, I know something cool we can check; come along.” He began walking away before even finishing the sentence, and as usual, you just grabbed a notepad and pen and caught up with him.  
  
A maze of corridors later, the two of you were standing in front of the Enhanced Engineering department.  
As soon as he stepped foot inside the actual lab, you saw all the engineers getting smaller and quieter as soon as they laid eyes on him.

 Jack bee-lined to get to a specific person, and you soon realized this was the newest head of engineering: a small Asian middle-aged woman with short dark hair and thick glasses sitting on her nose.  
"Is the prototype ready?"  
The woman raised her head from the sketches she had been inspecting, her eyes widening as soon as she saw Jack standing in front of her. There was the faintest pungent smell of fear in her scent: not that you needed to resort to that to understand she was completely terrified of Jack.  
She stared dumbfounded at her superior, almost forcing the words out of her mouth. “U-uhm.. the new features are in working order and have been thoroughly tested,” she met Jack’s gaze, almost trembling “but they could definitely use some more fine tuning, sir.” She quickly muttered.  
  
“You’re kind of wasting my time here, so I’m going to make it simple for you: is it working or not?” he cadenced the last few words with a tone that yearned for murder.  
“Of course, sir.” It was a miracle her voice hadn’t broken while she replied.  
The woman almost yelped when Jack patted her shoulder heavily. "Great! Cupcake,” He turned towards you “would you playtest it for us?" That evil glint, _again_. This wasn’t going to end well.  
"Absolutely, sir." You replied in a calm manner, putting aside your gut feeling for now.

The three of you moved to the testing chamber- the clear marks of bullets left on the floor and the small fire arms hanging on display on one of the walls were a clear tell to what this place was used for. You approached a smaller area where a desk and some control panels were placed.  
You left your notepad on the main desk and waited for the researcher to hand you the small device in question. She quickly instructed you on how to set it up, and pointed at the spot in the middle of the room you were supposed to stand on.  
You looked at the spot, then back at the engineer, then at Jack, and smiled that terrible fake ass smile you had grown to love hiding behind.

Those few steps felt almost like a death sentence looming over your head. Your low heels finally came to a halt as you tried to control your breathing, hoping with all yourself this prototype had nothing to do with you getting mauled. "Y-you just have to activate it-"  
"…Okay." You didn't like the uncertainty in her tone. Nothing good ever happened when somebody spoke like that.  
As soon as you pressed the sequence of buttons as you were instructed, a purple-blue kinetic layer surrounded your body.  
You noticed some of your hair floating on their own, and the area surrounding your body was buzzing with electricity. A shield of sort, if you had to take a guess.  
You saw the lead engineer pressing a couple of buttons from the console next to her, and thin glass-like walls raised in front of her and Jack.  
“And in 3… 2… 1…” A quick tap of buttons, and the world suddenly flashed blank around you. The characteristic smell of ozone filled your nostrils, along with the faint flowery smell of your own scent.  
Your whole body started trembling as soon as you managed to process just what had happened.

“Finally you’ve upgraded the laser reflection!” Jack exclaimed in a pleased tone.  
You gulped in distress, understanding full well that he had just essentially volunteered you as cannon fodder. You brought a hand over your chest, trying to pace your breathing as it was getting out of control again.  
“What's the deviation efficiency for lead bullets?" For a split second the very vivid image of the main square of your childhood town lingered in the back of your eyelids, the smell of laser guns and rotting corpses clinging heavily in the air.  
"O-o-over 99%, sir." You forced your eyes open again, and stared in horror as Jack pulled his gun out of the holster. “Pull the protections down.”

Your eyes went wide and your entire body froze up. You felt just like a fawn staring at a hunter from the wrong side of the barrel. In that half a second it took your brain to process what was just going down in front of your eyes, Jack opened fire against you.  
You reflexively ducked low, bringing your arms over your face to protect yourself. Shield or not, that action was so hard-wired into your brain that you didn't need to think about it for it to happen.  
  
The shield buzzed with a terrible creaky sound when the bullet made impact against it. A shot of warm pulsating pain blossomed from your left arm, which had taken the brunt of the damage. Small shards of lead were embedded into your flesh, and _it hurt like a bitch_.  
You took in sharp breaths, feeling extremely hot and cold at the same time. Your head was spinning and you sat back and enveloped the oozing wound in your fingers, your pulse sloshing against your skin with each heartbeat.  
It dawned on you only later that something must have gone wrong; you focused enough to look towards Jack, and he looked _angry_.

He breathed out deeply, closing his eyes and slightly tilting his head upwards. He opened his eyelids slowly and stared at the engineer with a growl.  
They both knew he could have killed her in a split second if he so wished. He aimed for a kneecap instead.

The woman whined in pain as she fell to the ground, clutching her wounded limb. "Now that is not how a shield works! Anybody disagreeing on this? No? Good." You saw some heads peeking from the windows in conjunction to the main research room, all interested in what was going down in here. "You have anything to add to this magnificent fuckup?" He crossed his arms over his chest as he casually leant against the desk, staring down his employee.  
"Sir, it's j-just a malfunction, if we tested it again-"  
"No-" He retorted in a bored tone.  
“We improved greatly from the last batch! The new unit has less malfunctioning issues-“  
"Try harder, sunshine." He casually gazed towards you, and all of a sudden the casual – almost entertained – expression he was wearing fell off like a dead leaf from a branch.  
He talked to the woman without looking at her. “Hold up. Think of something with more sense. Send a report saying how much you screwed up when you’re done.”  
He left the desk, never taking his eyes off you. Your body completely froze up, and you could barely tremble as Jack slowly paced towards you.  
"Are you okay? Any arteries hit?" He casually asked, but there was a certain stiffness in his movements that betrayed his nervousness.  
You shook your head in response, the numbness slowly fading away as you felt the touch of his warm hand over your shoulder.

He pulled out a handkerchief from his breast pocket.  
"C'me here, you're bleeding all over the place." He tightened it over your arm and made a knot. He offered you a hand and the thought of refusing didn't even cross your mind. "Do your silly little legs still work? Yeah? Good."  
He pulled you back on your feet, but soon vertigos almost made you lose balance again. He grabbed your sane wrist and stopped briefly to let you get back your balance, before abruptly pulling you after him and out of the room.  
You weren't trembling, but your body felt so much number and distant.  
It wasn't getting shot at that upset you – although it's not like you had developed an immunity to bullets over the course of the years. It was the sting of all those scars that ran down your back, all the fear you had felt as you were running away from firefights over the course of the first fifteen years of your life. And at that moment, it was all just crashing down on you.  
  
You kept following Jack, out of the room and much further inside Helios. Not that you had a choice in the matter.  
When you stopped, it took you a while to realize you were just in front of the elevator.  
He sighed, pressing a button on the control panel. The elevator doors dinged open, and several pairs of frightened eyes fixed on Jack's lanky and slightly bloodied figure. "Out."  
Everybody rushed to the exit at that simple word.  
He pressed his palm on the small of your back and ushered you inside the elevator, knowing you would have probably remained behind in your current mental state.

He pressed another button and the doors closed, the buzzing of the elevator softly lulling you back to reality.  
"You're awfully quiet, sugar. Cat got your tongue?" He was leaning against the wall opposite to you, staring at you intently.

“My apologies, sir. I wasn’t expecting this… experience today.”  
Jack stepped closer to you; his scent filled your nostrils, alongside the bitter smell of rotting roses. Being a Beta, your scent was generally much tamer, much more easy to discard. But this stench of fear was so strong even he must have taken notice.  
His hand reached for yours and you didn't fight him. Long fingers wrapped around your wrist, bringing it closer to his face. You felt him sniff lightly, his lips almost brushing against the back of your fingers.  
He exhaled deeply, an undecipherable look on his face.

“Your scent is real nice cupcake, you know that?” He closed in, and you walked backwards by reflex, hitting the elevator wall shortly after, stuck between it and your boss’ larger frame. “Too bad it had to come to this for me to feel it.”  
“You could’ve asked… _gently_.”  
He smirked, entertained by being the cat pawing at a trapped mouse. “Would it have been that easy?”  
“Not necessarily, but it would have been more polite than shooting me. Sir.”

He looked away, almost sheepish. His large hands rested over your shoulders, slowly but surely making their way towards your neck. “I didn’t want you to get hurt, I’ll admit that much.”  
“Why did you do it then?” His thumb caressed the length of your throat, and you felt a shiver running down your spine, though you weren’t sure it was entirely caused by fear.  
“Is it so hard to believe you’re entertaining to toy with?”  
Realization quickly struck you, and you spoke before even fully processing that thought. “Is it because I told you to rest?”  
“It’s because I felt like it, sweet cheeks. That’s all you gotta know.”  
His hand squeezed harder over your trachea, and you closed your eyes shut in reflex. You clenched your jaw and forced in air through your nostrils, feeling your pulse thundering in the back of your skull.  
“Nobody cares for you, not even yourself.” You opened your eyes, meeting his. “I apologize I tried to.” You forced the words out. Jack’s features softened for a split second before he smirked again, loosening his grip on your throat.

His hand was still there, almost keeping you in place. “I wanted to see how hard I could push you before you broke under my fingers.”  
“Am I fired?” You knew that would have been a sure death sentence, but in that moment your tone was still cheeky, and Jack still seemed to like it.  
“Au contraire.” He pressed his thumbs under your chin, making you tilt your head.

He leaned in closer, whispering in your ear. “I’m going to have a lot of fun with you around, cupcake.”

Just now you realized how warm his palm felt against your skin, or better- how cold you actually were.  
The doors dinged open, and you recognized the concerningly claustrophobic walls of the med bay. "Go get yourself fixed. You're bleeding all over the damn place." He stepped away, admiring his handiwork on your throat, which was reddened for sure.

"Catch up with you later-" He winked at you just as the doors were closing, and your mind wouldn’t do anything but wonder what had just happened there.

\-----

The first moment you truly felt safe was after the apartment door closed behind you.

The room was dark, the only source of light coming from the living room screen, in front of which you could see the silhouettes of Vaughn and Rhys, screaming at each other over the loud noises coming from one of Rhys' latest compulsive purchases.

The cartoonish style of the shooting game they were playing had never really bothered you, though you couldn't help but admire the irony of the timing of Rhys' choices. "Hheyy! How did it go today, super secretary?" He asked without looking at your direction. The sling in which your arm was currently resting would have spoken volumes.  
You paused for a moment, knowing full well you didn’t have it in you to lie your way through that question. "He shot at me." You simply stated in a whisper.  
The room plummeted into complete silence, except for the videogame still playing in the background.  
“Wait, did you just say-“ As soon as Rhys’ head snapped towards you, his eyes went wide.

"Shit- are you okay?" ‘Okay’ just wasn’t in your vocabulary anymore, not that night.  
Rhys left the controller and leaped over the couch, pacing right next to you. "(y/n)? Are you hurt??"  
Vaughn paused the game and the shooting noises ceased.  
"No, I'm actually-" You breathed in sharply, dragging a hand over your face. "I think I need to lay down a bit." You moved towards your room without looking at either of them.

You shed the outer layers of your outfit and kicked your shoes in the usual corner, collapsing on your side over the bed. You closed your eyes, feeling too tired to even try to have a mild mental breakdown anymore.  
You knew this job was dangerous from the start, but you were hoping it would have taken some more time to arrive at the psychological torture part.  
Jack found you interesting enough to mess with you, and it wasn’t a good thing. On the other hand, you would have completely lied to yourself if you forgot to mention how you didn’t mind being that close to him. You tiredly dragged your eyelids open, not sure you were mentally prepared to have this conversation with yourself just yet.  
Relationships with Alphas were dangerous. A relationship with Jack would have been deadly to most, and you weren’t that sure you didn’t fall among the mass for once.

A light knock resonated from the back of your door. "Tell me how to help-" He was wearing the most worried expression you had seen on him since you had told him you had accepted the job.  
"Rhys, it's fine, _I'm_ fine-" you suddenly caught yourself questioning who you were trying to convince between the two of you.  
He paused briefly, the furrow of his brows only deepening. "You smell scared."  
"Goddamnit, it clung to my clothes for this long?" You mumbled undertone while Rhys sighed in what you could now recognize as a similar fashion as you did with Jack earlier in the morning.  
He opened your wardrobe and fetched the most obnoxiously big jumper and sweatpants he could find. “Change clothes.” He threw the garments at you and turned around, crossing his arms over his chest.  
“Are you staying here-“ “I’m not looking!”  
You breathed out deeply, knowing full well that when Rhys was in Mama Mode, there was no way of making him change his mind.

You quickly obeyed him, and had to admit that getting out of those tight work clothes already made you feel a tad better.  
“I’m done.”  
"Good. Come with me." He took your hand in his and walked back in the living room.

“Feel like playing something tonight?” Vaughn chimed in, offering a gentle smile.  
“Not really, but thanks for the offer. Who’s winning?” You looked between Vaughn and Rhys, and realized the Omega had just beelined for the couch and tidied up the blankets and cushions laying on top of it.  
“Depends who you ask- I say I’m winning, Mr.LoserPants there has another opinion.” He said without stopping the nest building process.  
“I’m an accountant, Rhys! If there’s something I know, it’s how to keep count.” Rhys looked at Vaughn and then back at you. “I’m still winning.” He said with a convinced nod, quickly wrapping you in a blanket before you could begin protesting.  
"Rhys-" there was no way of stopping the omega, and in a matter of seconds you were forcibly tucked inside the blanket like a tight burrito and sat in what was now a comfy nest of blankets.

You _had_ to admire his fine craftsmanship. There was literally no way you could push free of the burrito-blanket, no matter how hard you tried. Rhys was quick to fetch you some wine served in a regular glass, and made sure you could grab it in your blanket clad free hand.  
"I can't drink it like this!" Rhys simply rolled his eyes at you, but instead of freeing you, simply went to fetch you a straw. You grabbed the glass tightly from underneath the cover and sipped on it through the straw, giving then a single nod of approval to your friend.

A couple of matches later, delivery food arrived and you and Vaughn’s combined plea convinced Rhys to let you partially free, at least not to starve.

As you were chattering over food, the topic of today’s happening came about. "What did he do exactly?"  
“He put me behind a shield he knew wasn’t going to hold up- And even if it was, he knows about Hestias.” You didn’t need to explain to the two of them the context, they knew enough to realize it was bad.  
“He probably just wanted to mess with you.” Vaughn said with a shrug.  
“And our boss’ type of jokes tend to be pretty fucky.” Rhys mumbled as he focused on his chopstick technique, muttering under his breath when his food hopelessly slipped back into the delivery package.  
"And then he tried to be… caring? It was a really unsettling experience. And it wasn’t entirely because of the shooting part." You said as you chewed another mouthful of noodles.

" _Caring?!_ He shot you, (y/n)!"  
"Look, I'm not putting that in question, it was a pretty fucked up day-" You inadvertently raised your voice as you said that, and took a deep breath to calm down and continue, "But afterwards he essentially treated me like an injured kitten." A kitten he could have crushed under his fingers if he so wished, but still, your point remained. "Have you ever seen him behave like that?"  
"C-can't say I have."  
"Nu-uh."

You exhaled deeply, only wishing to forget about that day.

After dinner, the two of them kept playing a bit, and let’s just say Rhys was being quite generous with the wine refills.  
You felt the alcohol slowly rising to your cheeks, making you feel safe and warm.  
"Does it sound crazy if I think Jack seemed to care about me?”  
"'Jack'? Are you already on a first name basis?"  
"Not… not really.” You sucked another sip of wine from the straw, unfocusedly analysing that thought a tad more. “I don’t think he knows my name."  
"What’s that blush, (y/n)?" Vaughn's tone was more concerned than gossipy, but since you knew Yvette only told him so much if he had nothing to exchange, you were quick to seal your mouth shut.  
"Wine. It's absolutely the wine. Keep playing, you're losing badly." Vaughn looked back at the screen, witnessing his character's death screen and subsequent respawn on his side of the tv.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what happened is that I didn't feel good about writing an abusive relationship without any knowledge of what I was getting into, ended up researching the good the bad and the ugly of the genre, realized there's literally no fucking way to write an erotic abusive relationship without somehow romanticizing the idea, got distracted by summer, remembered about Jack's sexy dumbass energy, and came back here to write more. But with warnings now.
> 
> Please know that this sort of relationship shouldn't be considered healthy, that omegaverse as a whole trope is full of traps that could romanticize this idea, and that this is done with fictional characters for a reason, and that is because it's funnier this way, without consequences. thank you for coming to my ted talk.

The successive week passed by without any other major accidents: Jack seemed to behave just like his normal self, whatever that might have meant, and apart from those couple of days when he was completely unreasonable, you would almost say it was entertaining to work with him.

That day had started very early – as usual- and after two meetings, he was ready to go see more prototypes and of course, threaten more employees along the way.  
You had learnt how to thread over his very thin patience, and had quickly picked up on how to recognize when there was a lost cause in front of you.  
You knew trouble was on the way as soon as you stepped inside the room.

Your nose picked up the scent with extreme ease: somebody was either crunching during a heat or risking their luck with Jack’s patience. If you were a gambler, your money would probably be on both.  
You had really started questioning whether developing a death wish on Helios had become a custom for your co-workers. And it wasn’t just for those toying with Jack’s patience in this way: many more seemed to think they would have been able to steal from him or exploit Hyperion’s resources without him knowing.  
Of course those rumours died down quickly, whenever a past thief’s corpse orbited closer to Helios’ massive windows.

Even for a beta, your nose was terrifically sensitive. You brought your hand under your nose to try to partially cover it, but it almost felt like it clung to the entire room. You looked in the corner of your eye, seeing Jack distressed as well, but concealing it much more subtly.  
He walked in long strides, fists already clenched at his sides.

You knew that look. He was looking for someone to hit.  
Workers sighed and shuffled closer to their holomonitors, already sensing the storm coming. You couldn’t really blame them. You would have done the same in their stead.  
It got harder and harder to follow him in the office, your nose sending you painfully insistent signals.

And then you spotted him, the little runt who was bashfully looking in your direction.  
He wasn’t that old, probably in his twenties, and from the glint in his eyes you could tell he was crushing hard for Jack. You supposed that Stockholm Syndrome was a very viable option in that kind of working environment, especially for a younger person like him. You half-wished he had more wits about him, but again, if he hadn’t developed some sense of self-preservation thus far, his chances of survival on this station could only lower with the passing of time.  
The way he looked up at Jack… poor thing. He surely didn’t sense the storm headed his way. “S-sir-“ He almost smiled, hazily looking upwards. Your boss was unamused, to say the least.

_Dear, oh dear. Jack will rip him apart and beat him with his own limbs._

“What the hell you think you’re doing?” Jack easily grubbed him by the scruff of his shirt, pulling him in a standing position and a tad more high than that. “You have goddamn leave days for this-” 

He wiggled out of his grasp. “I-I apologize sir, but the prototype needed some work done before your arrival-“ Bashful, almost innocent. Too bad he was a bad liar.  
Jack grabbed his hand by the fingers, his grip making his own knuckles turn white. “Really now?”   
Jack bent the fingers backwards, not stopping when the boy fell on his knees, and enjoying the satisfying pop with which they snapped. “I shouldn’t be wasting air talking to you and just proceed to vent you outside of the goddamn station!”

He let go of him, the whole room now much more silent than it already was before. “Get out and get _that_ sorted before I change my mind.” The young man ran out of the working area, soft pained whimpers leaving his lips.

Another man courageously cleared his throat, attempting to speak with Jack. “S-sir, the new designs for the rifle-“ “Go away.” He turned on his heels and almost hopped away, glad to have the chance to escape the situation. “Yessir.”

The reports of the current prototypes were handed to you without a word, and you proceeded to follow Jack as he stormed out of the office area.

“Well, that was fucking something-“

You gulped to soothe your dry throat, checking the notes on your ECHO to see what was up next. “The weaponry and engineering department are still waiting for your visit, sir.” You mechanically stated, feeling the beginning of a headache forming in the middle of your forehead.  
He pressed a closed fist to his forehead, knuckles rubbing just above his eyebrow. “Scratch that, I’ve had enough for now.”

\----

The words ‘Sensory Overload’ weren’t enough to describe how you were feeling right now.  
It almost hurt to think, not mentioning compiling dozens of reports and charts. You soldiered through it, glancing almost every two minutes at the clock on the lower side of your screen, hoping with all yourself to be able to go relax soon.

You printed out the few files you needed and stapled them together, fetching then the report that came in just this morning and went inside the office to bring them to your boss.

He was sitting beyond a pile of papers, though you had seen him move them around his desk with little focus since you had come back.  
“Here are the papers for the deal with the Jakobs industries and the reports on last semester from engineering.”  
Your migraine momentarily kicked in harder and you pinched the bridge of your nose with your fingers, squeezing your eyes shut. You could immediately feel his gaze set on you. “You alright there, cupcake?” You batted your eyes as you regained your composure. “Yes, I’m just feeling… dizzy.”

He closed the folder he had been inspecting for the past half an hour. “Should I be concerned about my employee going on sick leave during her first month?”  
“No, it’s just from… today’s…” You trailed off with your sentence, asking more directly: “Does that happen often?”

“Only when somebody’s got a death wish.” He stood up from his chair, circling around the desk without setting his eyes off of you. “People around here would do anything to have my undivided attention, even if it’s just to fuck them senseless.”

It wasn’t only the headache – now the beginning of a migraine – that was bothering you. And the more you realized what was going on, the more you knew you had to get yourself away from your workplace as soon as possible.  
It was normal for betas to undergo small heat periods from time to time – they lasted maybe one to three days and weren’t as crippling as the omegas’, but it was still some awkward days since you would try to grind against anything to scratch that terrible itch.

You weren’t sure an omega’s heat was supposed to trigger yours as well, but that was seemingly what your body had decided to go with. But still, it would have taken longer than that for you to go in heat-  
Jack took the time to stare you up and down. “I didn’t think it would affect a beta this badly.” He easily observed.   
“Not all betas… just me.” You regretted saying that the moment his eyes glinted with a spark of interest. “Say what now, kitten?”

He stepped around the desk and you followed his movements with your body, leaning back against the edge of the desk. He was circling around you like a predator, never taking his eyes off you.  
“I’ve always been a bit more… sensitive..” You said, realizing you were short of breath. You pulled at the tight collar of your blouse, suddenly wondering when it had all become so hot-

It wasn’t supposed to be this bad, not this soon. It would normally take at least twelve hours before it would have started affecting you like this- 

“Can you go in heat?” “I…” Your body language gave the answer away easily, but you tried to wiggle out of it anyways. “That’s not a question I’m comfortable answering.”

His hands rested just at your sides, on top of the desk. Green and blue locked with your eyes, and your migraine kicked in enough that your head started spinning.  
He wasn’t making any contact with you, not yet. He slowly leant in, tilting his head and stopping just near the side of your head.  
Soft lips murmured against the shell of your ear. “Can you feel when an alpha is on the verge of a rut?”  
“N-no.” His scent was intoxicating, and you had to consciously stop yourself before leaning into it.

His hand trailed over and underneath your skirt, grazing his nails lightly against your soft skin.  
“Don’t you want to spend a night warm and cozy with my knot filling you up?”

That offer sounded too good to be true in that moment. But you knew him too well to simply accept, and yet couldn’t physically bring yourself to refuse: all that you managed to reply with was a confused moan. Scent of wildfire invaded your nostrils, and you let him open up the first buttons of your shirt, almost feeling relief when the clothes started coming off.  
You gasped when you felt his mouth making contact with your skin, kissing and grazing his teeth just underneath your jugular. “Boss-“ “Shut that dumb little mouth.” He whispered in your ear, his hand giving a good squeeze at the base of your thigh. 

Your hands trailed over the back of his neck, slowly pressing him against you.  
Maybe it was better to play along. It’s not like you had a much of a choice.  
You brought your hands downwards and clumsily undid the buttons of his vest, and he took it off with a toothy grin.  
You continued on with his shirt, getting suddenly pulled in by his hand on the back of your head, his warm mouth invading your own.

Your fingers clung to the hem of his pants, feeling light scars running on toned skin under the pads of your fingers, his erection pressing a very obvious shape on his crotch.

“So what’s it gonna be, cupcake?” His hand was on your hair, tugging so you would raise your head and expose your neck. “How would you like to get filled to the brim by an alpha and getting pushed over the edge again and again for a whole night?”

“I’m afraid- I m-must” His tongue trailed over the sweet spot where your neck and shoulder met, and the moan that escaped your lips was more than enough to give him a definitive answer. “-decline?”

Suddenly you felt his hand grabbing the underside of your chin, his fingers almost digging in your cheeks and forcing you to lock eyes with him. His hands undid the last button of your blouse.  
Jack closed in, his forehead brushing against yours.

“You,” He took in a deep breath, almost entranced by your scent at this point. “are a terrible liar.” He breathlessly chuckled, leaning in to press another kiss on your mouth.  
You rolled your hips against his.

This was-  
This was wrong. Even without the implications of sleeping with your boss, this was a highway to an almost certain painful death.  
“J-jack-“

“Stop- Please--“ He stilled himself, his heart drumming against your open palm. His eyes locked with yours, his pupils dilated like crazy. “Stop.” In a manic moment of lucidity, he pushed himself off of you.

“Get outta here.” He said without looking at you, and you took that opportunity without thinking twice.  
You could feel his scent all over you, making it impossible to focus on nearly anything surrounding you.

You ran back to the apartment as quickly and quietly as you could, avoiding any sort of contact with anybody.  
By the time you slammed the door shut behind you, you were feeling sick from the pit of your stomach. You quickly recomposed yourself and strode towards your bedroom.

“Hey, what’s that smell?” the omega chirped from the threshold of the kitchen door.  
“None of your business, Rhysie.” Even though you meant that as neutral as possible, Rhys quickly picked up on the fact that something was wrong.  
His voice was concerned now.  
“I’m just happy you started seeing someone again. It was about time-“ “None. Of your. Business.” You stated matter-of-factly, nearly shutting your bedroom door on his face.

You started shedding all of your clothes, his scent still clingy heavily onto them.  
You felt a blush creeping up again over your cheeks, and buried your face in your jacket- worsening the problem.

What am I even _doing-_

You threw the piece of garment in the pile destined to go to the laundry and finished undressing, preparing for a thorough shower.  
Your thighs moved uneasily together because of how wet you were. A light knock resonated on your door. “(y/n)? Do you wanna… maybe talk about it?”

You stilled the shakiness in your voice, replying with a single “No.”  
You opened your bedside drawer and fished for your vibrator. You grabbed it and took a big towel from your dresser, wrapping yourself in it.  
You took a deep breath, knowing your roommate would have pestered you about this story anyway. If you couldn’t run from it, at least you could run straight at it.  
“Excuse me-“ you brushed him off and quickly made way past him to get to the bathroom, but he was quicker.  
“Wait a second-“ Rhys ran after you and cupped your forehead, his eagerly awaiting for gossip expression replaced with a much more worried one.

You let him cup your cheek with his palm, using his thumb to pull your lower eyelid and take a look at what probably were madly dilated pupils. “You’re in a heat!”  
In the face of truth, you stubbornly lied. “No!”

“Are you alright? Did an alpha try something??” You placed your hand on his chest, trying to calm him down. “I’m okay Rhysie, it’s all fine. I’m just really, really tired, sugar.”

He shrunk in his form, looking helpless as you denied him any sort of explanation. “We can report it, if something… not good… happened.” You took in a deep breath at that statement.

_Not this one, I’m afraid we can’t._

“I appreciate your concern, I really do. But nothing I didn’t sign up for happened. I’m okay.”  
He hugged you tightly, and you patted his back. When the hug lasted for more than 3 Mississippis, you huffed awkwardly. “Rhys, I’m in a towel. It’s weird.”  
“Right, right. I’ll leave you to…” he glanced at the sex toy in your hands and you stared him back with a gaze that said ‘deal with it’ 

“…your things.”

By the time you managed to get inside the bathroom, you had immediately closed the door behind you and thrown the towel near the bathtub, opening then the water to let it fill.  
You went to stand in front of the sink as the water rushed inside the tub, too eager to wait for it to fill.

It took you just a moment to slip back into thinking about his hands all over you, and his warm mouth tracing a delicious path down your throat. How hard he felt against your thigh, as he was pressing you against his own desk.

You quickly sat on the floor, pressing the vibrator against your clit and slowly increasing its intensity.

How it felt so nice to feel wanted, possessed, especially by the richest alpha in this quadrant of the galaxy.  
Your fingers tentatively moved inside your entrance, finding a quick way in as to how slick the muscles were.  
You picked up the pace, fantasizing how big and deep and harsh he could be to you, and all the things he’d love to do to you.

You curled your fingers inside yourself, biting your lower lip to suppress a moan. It still wasn’t right, and it still was a death wish to have Handsome Jack fuck you.  
“…just for tonight…”

You came hard, biting on your knuckles to suppress any noise.  
You didn’t particularly like going through heats, especially when you were alone.  
 _If only Jack were here-_  
“No, no, no. This was my one time-“ you slid your fingers out, very much still trembling. “That was my fix. I’m fixed.”  
Your mind said you did the right thing. Your body wondered why there wasn’t a knot filling up the spot where that terrible ache was.  
Damn, Jack was right. You were a pretty shitty liar.

You somberly took a long bath, trying to forget the events of the day.


End file.
